Haney picks Ryan Garcia to beat Luke Campbell

By Boxing News - 07/17/2020 - Comments

By Kenneth Friedman: Devin Haney is picking Ryan Garcia to defeat Luke Campbell when the two of them fight this year. WBC lightweight champion Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) says Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) has beaten before and is coming off of a loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko from last August in London, England.

Devin notes that ‘King’ Ryan (20-0, 17 KOs) is fighting well right now with the momentum behind him with his three consecutive lightning quick knockouts since last year.

Haney, 21, is interested in facing the 32-year-old Campbell if Ryan doesn’t sign to fight him. He’s not going to wait around passively to see if that match gets made before having his promoter Eddie Hearn to schedule the Campbell match with him.

Things aren’t going well between Ryan Garcia and his promoters at Golden Boy, and there’s no way of knowing right now if they’re going to keep him out of the ring after he turned don an offer to headline on July 4.

Haney and Ryan have fought twice in the amateurs with the two splitting the fight s at one apiece. In the pro ranks, Ryan looks to the faster and much more powerful fighter of the two, but Haney has the technical expertise that boxing fans are Irving bait.

Image: Haney picks Ryan Garcia to beat Luke Campbell

Luke Campbell vs. Ryan Garcia winner must face Haney

“It’s very much possible,” said Haney to Fighthype when asked if a fight against Luke Campbell is possible. “Nothing is finalized with nobody yet. He [Campbell] and Ryan don’t have a deal yet, and I don’t have a deal with anybody or an agreement or anything.

“But everybody is negotiating with everybody. The [Campbell vs. Ryan Garcia] winner has to fight me regardless, and if he doesn’t fight me; Let’s say Ryan wins and he doesn’t fight me, all the credit he got [from beating Campbell] will go out the window because he doesn’t want to fight the champion now?

“That’s very much possible,” said Haney when told that Ryan Garcia could move up to 140 after beating Campbell. “I hope not. I hope the winner stays here and fights the champion,” Haney said.

Campbell wouldn’t need to face Ryan Garcia if Haney chooses to give him a fight straightway. However, Campbell is still very interested in fighting the 21-year-old Ryan because he believes it’s a fight that he can win. A victory for Luke over Ryan, it would open doors for bigger money fights, not just against Haney.

It’s unlikely that Ryan Garcia will move up to 140 after he faces Campbell. Ryan needs to fill out first before he can start thinking about going up to light welterweight, and right now, he looks like a beanpole at 135.

To make the big pay-per-view money, Campbell needs to defeat Ryan, and use that victory to get the big paydays against Haney, Lomachenko, and Gervonta Davis.

Devin gives Ryan the edge over Campbell

“It’ll make for a big fight and a good fight,” Haney continued in talking about Campbell vs. Garcia. “I think he should win. I think Ryan should win. You’ve got to believe; Luke Campbell is coming off of a loss too.

YouTube video

“People forget that and try to hide that. He’s still coming off of a loss. I think he’s a good fighter and talented, but Ryan has the momentum right now if he looks like he’s ready, and it’s possible.

“But, Luke Campbell has that boxing ability, that ring generalship, and that experience. It’ll make for a good fight. You can’t count Luke out, and you can’t count Ryan out. I think it’s a good fight. But if Ryan wins easily, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Haney said.

The power that Ryan possesses could be enough for him to beat Cambell, but only if he’s able to land his shots. Campbell is going to be wise to the left hooks that King Ryan likes to throw to knock out his opponents, and he’s going to make sure he limits the number of those shots he can land.

All it takes with Ryan is one punch, and he can knock out his opponents. If he hurts Campbell with one of his left hooks, the British fighter is going to have an adamant time trying to get out of the round.

Does Ryan Garcia have the ‘DOG’ in him?

“We just got to see when he gets in there,” said Haney when asked if Ryan Garcia has the ‘dog’ in him to win a tough fight. “Nobody knows until you go up against that.

“Nobody knows until that time comes, and your card gets pulled. People have that question about me. They don’t know if I’m the person I say I am. We just got to see, you know? I’ve been in there with the best of them, and I’ve never shied away.

“I’ve been calling out these top guys for a while now, and that shows that I’m willing to put my ‘O’ up against the best of them. When that time comes, I’ll be ready and happy to show the world. Of course, nobody wants to be in a dog fight. I want to win as easily as possible.

YouTube video

“If they say, ‘He beat everybody but we couldn’t see if he was a dog or not,’ I wouldn’t be mad. Floyd [Mayweather] showed that he was a dog against [Miguel] Cotto.

“Yeah, Maidana. He definitely paid his dues and showed he’s a dog. Those were real dog fights [Floyd against Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales] that you really don’t want to be in because they take a toll on your career,” said Haney.

The only fights during Ryan’s short four-year career in which he had to take shots and dig deep were against Carlos Morales and Noe Martinez Raygoza. Garcia won both fights, but he failed to impress in facing those fighters.

He won’t see whether Ryan Garcia has the toughness needed to be a world champion until he faces Campbell, Gervonta Davis, and Haney.

No punishment 

“You want to win as easy as possible, go back to your family healthy, and have a long career,” said Devin. “The time has come where I’m going to be fighting these top guys. Once you got to the top, it’s hard to go down.

“You look at a guy like Shawn Porter. Even though he may lose, he’s still at the top and is still going to fight Errol Spence, and he’s still going to be talked about fighting Terence Crawford. He’s still going to fight Keith Thurman.

Image: Haney picks Ryan Garcia to beat Luke Campbell

“I think the time is going to come where all these top guys are going to be fighting each other,” added Devin.

Haney is going to need to be willing to take some punishment for his fights to be thrilling to watch, as boxing fans like to see competitive fights. If Haney is going to be playing it safe continually by out-boxing his overmatched opponents, he’s not going to win over a lot of fans like that.

Boxers are a dime a dozen in this sport, and it’s not as interesting as it is in watching slugger. That might be one of the reasons why Ryan Garcia’s popularity has arguably soared well beyond Haney’s, even though he’s not a world champion. The fans like to see knockouts, and Ryan gives them what they’re looking for when they watch him.

 

Pacquiao vs. Golovkin interests Haney

“I see something about Pacquiao wanting to fight Golovkin at 160,” Haney said. “That’s something I’d be interested in seeing because Manny is so fast and has such good footwork. At 160, I’ll watch it [Pacquiao vs. Golovkin]. I’ll watch it. Will you watch it?

“People think I kill sparring partners all the time,” said Haney. “I work on things. And I use my jab and work on my movement. I go in there and work,” said Haney.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Gennadiy Golovkin fight has little chance of happening. IBF middleweight champion Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KO) is facing his IBF mandatory Kamil Szeremeta next this year, and after that, he’ll be fighting Canelo Alvarez in May 2021.

A lot of boxing fans are already interested in seeing Pacquiao take on GGG, and it’s a contest that would do well in terms of the subscribers to DAZN and ticket sales. They would probably need to take the fight out of the U.S for it to be staged in front of fans. None of the States are allowing crowds right now for sporting events.